The Board of Directors

Meet Our People

Our Board of Directors is pleased to focus on important initiatives to further diversity and inclusion in the mining industry.


Social norms, cultural stereotypes, power and privilege in organizations provide the “invisible foundation” for organizational decisions about which jobs and opportunities are suitable for certain types of workers.

The 2021 Board of Directors

Resa Furey

Chair
Resa Furey leads Marketing for Stantec’s global mining business where she oversees communications, PR, and business development. She is multi-lingual and a passionate believer that diversity, in particular diversity of thought, leads to better decisions and outcomes. Resa has published widely on diversity and inclusion, water in mining and tailings and was named to the 100 Inspirational Women in Mining list in 2018. Some of her recent accomplishments include: Established the International Women in Mining session at SME in 2016 to inspire diverse populations – especially women and young professionals – to create their future in the mining industry. In 2021 it will be renamed ‘International Diversity in Mining’. Established the CIM Diversity and Inclusion award to recognize exceptional efforts to improve diversity and inclusion within the Canadian mining industry. It was awarded for the third time in 2019. Sponsored an initiative in the WIM Denver chapter to adopt a new charter to support women’s careers in mining. Prior to this change, WIM in the US focused exclusively on educating the public on mining. Successful implementation inspired efforts to make a similar change at the WIM USA (national) level and has led to explosive growth in membership.

Jennifer Koury

Vice Chair & Chapters Lead
Jennifer has more than 35 years professional experience including C-suite leadership roles and international experience, with the world’s largest mining Company, BHP Billiton, as well has worked with Enerplus Resources and Exxon Mobil as a senior executive. Although Jennifer’s core skill is in the Human Resources discipline she also has extensive business leadership, management and governance experience working with large global organizations as well as mid-size and early stage companies which has developed a broad range of business acumen skills. Currently, Jennifer sits on the Board of Directors for the Calgary Zoo, the University of Alberta, Faculty of Business Advisory Board and in September 2017 Jennifer was appointed Chair of the first public/private partnership for the UN Women Global Innovation Coalition for Change (GICC), a branch of the United Nations. Based in New York, Jennifer leads the GICC which is group of twenty-five global companies and institutions supporting and empowering women and girls in innovation. Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree (honors) from the University of Alberta and has her Directors Designation, ICD.D, from The Rotman School of Business, University of Toronto.

Heather Cheeseman

Treasurer
Heather is a Partner at KPMG and leads the Toronto mining practice. Heather has specialized in the mining industry for over 15 years and has significant experience providing assurance and advisory services to companies at all stages in the mining life cycle. Heather has hands on experience at the mine site level, having visited over fifteen mine sites on six continents. Heather also leads KPMG’s award-winning Lean in Audit service for the mining industry, which helps companies improve the productivity, efficiency and quality of their processes through interactive workshops.

Melissa Ng

Secretary
Melissa is a Professional Geologist with thirteen years of experience in the mining industry. During this time, she has held several geology positions with multiple North American mining companies. This type of site-based rotation work has allowed her to pursue her passion while maintaining her home base in Edmonton, AB. She holds an MBA from Athabasca University and a B.Sc. from the University of Alberta. She has been an active member of mine rescue and is a dynamic part of growth and change at the companies she works for. Her personal leadership philosophy is: support those around you and allow them to become better than you ever were!

Angelica Mirza

International Lead
Angelica has more than fifteen years of executive search experience globally, giving her a unique perspective on cultural norms and expectations that enable her to deliver innovative and strategic solutions for talent acquisition and the business strategic needs of her clients. Before starting her own firm in 2012, she was a partner in the Milan/London office of Amrop, where she worked on global accounts. Currently in the Mining industry she works with Capital firms and Funds, helping to raise capital for mining projects, including European Roadshows with private investors and funds in Europe. Angelica has been member of the Directors Committee for Vancouver Opera Board & Ballet BC, has been a keynote speaker and written various industry-related articles. She is currently involved with Women’s Executive Network, Women in Mining B.C.’ s executive committee, and UBC Advisory Board AOII, Executive Board for the Excelerate conference, Italian Chamber Of Commerce Events Committee, Board Member for GROWYOURBIZ, and Advisory Board United Nations women.

Valentina Marinova

Sponsorships Lead
Valentina has more than ten years audit experience, and is part of the Ernst & Young Quebec mining and metals industry team. She has worked on multi-national and global accounts, and has a strong understanding of industry risks. She is part of the Young Professionals chapter in Montreal. Valentina has been a selection judge for Women in Mining Canada’s Trailblazer Awards and the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award. She has participated in several EY initiatives promoting the advancement of women.

Alex Hood

Events Lead
Ms. Hood has spent her career in mining, predominantly in site-based roles, leading permitting and environment projects in the Canadian Territories and Ontario for the De Beers Group of Companies. In her mining role, Alex works closely with Indigenous partners and government stakeholders balancing their needs with the economic needs of industry. Ms. Hood holds a Masters of Sciences through the Royal Roads University, and a Bachelors Degree in Environmental Science through the University of Waterloo. In addition to her educational endeavours, she is also a member of her corporations’ Inclusion and Diversity (I&D) Working Group where she works to identify barriers and opportunities for making the organization more diverse through mentoring while leading working groups on topics such as bullying and harassment, mental health, and cultural awareness. In conjunction to her work on diversity, she is also dedicated to propelling the industry towards a more innovative and environmentally sustainable sector, and pursues this work as a member of the Ontario Mining Association’s Environment Committee, and Energy and Innovation Committee. Ms. Hood is committed to leading change and encouraging diversity within the mining industry.

Jennifer Cameron

Communications Lead
Jennifer Cameron is the Director, Investor Relations at Dundee Precious Metals, a Canadian-based mid-tier gold producer. Jennifer has over 16 years of experience as an investor relations professional with publicly-listed mining companies. Prior to joining Dundee Precious Metals, she spent 15 years with Kinross Gold Corporation in progressively senior investor relations positions, and has extensive experience providing investor relations support during a significant number of M&A transactions, equity and debt financings and various communications initiatives, and was previously a volunteer with Women in Mining Canada’s Communications committee.

Kevin D'Souza

Chapters & Partners
Kevin is currently the Vice President of Security, Sustainability & Environment for Centerra Gold. He has worked his entire career in the mining industry having begun as an operational mining engineer in West Africa after graduating from the Royal School of Mines in London, England (Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine). He has over twenty-five years of experience gained from a variety of operational, managerial and leadership roles that range from remote exploration camps, mine construction sites, operational mines and closure sites, to Corporate and Ministerial offices. He has worked directly for, or consulted to, numerous mining companies including many of the industry’s majors such as Barrick Gold, AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Kinross and De Beers. Throughout his mining career he has been fortunate to have amassed direct experience in over fifty countries worldwide working with remote communities and indigenous groups. To compliment the private sector work he has also worked extensively on mining related human rights and sustainable development programs for some major NGOs and with International Funding Institutions (IFIs) supporting emerging market governments on macro-level mining policy reform and mining related community development programs (including the World Bank, IFC, EBRD, ILO, USAID and the UK’s DFID). He is also currently a committee member of the new Black North Initiative (BNI) and a mentor on the International Women in Mining (IWiM) mentoring programme.

Mélanie LaRoche-Boisvert

Awards Lead
Mélanie is a junior mining engineer with DRA Global, where she works on various studies for new and expanding mining projects around the world. She holds a B.Eng. in Mining Engineering from McGill University as well as an M.Eng from McGill University, focusing on integrating mine-to-port transportation into the simultaneous stochastic optimization of open-pit mining complexes. She is a past Executive with Young Mining Professionals (YMP) Toronto and YMP Scholarships, and has previously been a volunteer with Women in Mining Canada for four years.

Kassandra Del Greco

Partners Lead
Ms. Del Greco is an Associate at Resource Capital Funds, working for the Opportunities Fund. Kassandra began her career as a field-based exploration geologist in Quebec, working for companies such as Goldcorp and Eastmain Resources, before relocating to Denver to begin a career in private equity. Kassandra is a registered professional geologist in the province of Quebec, holds a Master of Science degree from the University of Victoria with a specialization in tectonics and structural geology, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from McGill University in Earth and Planetary Science. In addition, she is a member of the Women in Mining U.S.A. Denver chapter, the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, the Association of Mineral Exploration of British-Columbia, and Toastmasters USA. Within the mining industry, Kassandra is passionate about the promotion of diversity and inclusion, mentorship for early career professionals and students, and ESG. She is a mentor for the Young Mining Professionals mentorship program and works within Resource Capital Funds as a champion for diversity and inclusion.

Past Directors

  • Catherine Gignac
  • Siri C. Genik
  • Karen Trenton
  • Marie-Hélène Turgeon
  • Jamile Cruz
  • MaryAnn Mihychuk
  • Catharine Shaw
  • Tabetha Stirrett
  • Rick Hutson
  • Sharon McLeod
  • Nancy Komperdo
  • Angelina Mehta
  • Kathy Chapman
  • Mary Louise Hall
  • Charmaine Gazdic
  • Anne Lewis
  • Teri Brigden
  • Kristin Cuddington
  • Tara Gilfillan
  • Jean Lucas
  • Curtis Clarke
  • Heather Ednie
  • Stacey Ferguson
  • Douglas Bolton
  • Cynthia La Sueur-Aquin
  • Marie-Francine Poitras
  • Diane Arcand
  • Mafalda Arias
  • Melanie Sturk
  • Leanne Hall
  • Anne-Marie Bosse
  • Susie Henderson
  • Charles Riopel